Identification of degrees of anxiety in children with three- and five-face facial scales / Identificación de grados de ansiedad en niños con escalas faciales de tres y cinco caras

Background: Facial scales are used in the assessment of emotional states. The scales present different numbers of faces to measure the varying levels f intensity of children’s emotional responses. This paper seeks to analyze the whether the subjects are able to match the appropriate descriptors of a degree of anxiety with the corresponding facial image. Method: A sample of 463 children aged 6 to 12 years was taken from the Autonomous Communities of Murcia and the Balearics. Results: Significant differences were obtained among the six-year-olds, M = 2.58 (SD = 0. 85), in the three face scale and M = 2.98 (SD = 1.52) in the five-face scale. From 7 years on, there were no significant differences in the number of correct responses between the two scales. In general, girls scored higher than boys on both the three-face scale (M = 2.89, SD = 0.50 vs. M = 2.75, SD = 0.70) and the five face scale (M = 4.08, SD = 1.41 vs. M = 3.76, SD = 1.56). Conclusion: The three-face scale is more appropriate for the correct matching of descriptors to different degrees of anxiety for children aged 6 to 12 years, whereas the five-face scale is more suited to children over 6 years (AU)

Antecedentes: las escalas faciales son utilizadas para la evaluación de los estados emocionales. Estas escalas presentan un número diferente de caras para medir diferentes niveles de intensidad de la respuesta emocional infantil. El propósito del presente estudio es conocer si los participantes son capaces de hacer coincidir los descriptores vinculados al grado de ansiedad con su correspondiente imagen facial. Método: se reclutó una muestra de 463 niños y niñas de 6 a 12 años de edad procedentes de las comunidades de Murcia e Islas Baleares. Resultados: se obtuvieron diferencias significativas en los participantes de seis años con M= 2.58 (DT= .85) en la escala de tres caras y M= 2.98 (DT= 1.52) en la escala de cinco caras. A partir de los siete años no hay diferencias significativas en los aciertos si utilizan la escala de tres o la de cinco caras.En general, las niñas tienen un mayor acierto que los niños en la escala de tres caras (M= 2.89, DT= .50 y M= 2.75, DT= .70) y en la de cinco (M= 4.08, DT= 1.41 y M= .76, DT= 1.56). Conclusiones: la escala de tres caras es más apropiada para discriminar correctamente descriptores vinculados a diferentes grados de ansiedad por niños de 6 a 12 años, mientras que la escala de cinco caras para niños mayores de seis años (AU)

Identification of degrees of anxiety in children with three- and five-face facial scales.

BACKGROUND: Facial scales are used in the assessment of emotional states. The scales present different numbers of faces to measure the varying levels of intensity of children's emotional responses. This paper seeks to analyze the whether the subjects are able to match the appropriate descriptors of a degree of anxiety with the corresponding facial image. METHOD: A sample of 463 children aged 6 to 12 years was taken from the Autonomous Communities of Murcia and the Balearics. RESULTS: Significant differences were obtained among the six-year-olds, M = 2.58 ( SD = 0. 85), in the three-face scale and M = 2.98 ( SD = 1.52) in the five-face scale. From 7 years on, there were no significant differences in the number of correct responses between the two scales. In general, girls scored higher than boys on both the three-face scale ( M = 2.89, SD = 0.50 vs. M = 2.75, SD = 0.70) and the five-face scale ( M = 4.08, SD = 1.41 vs. M = 3.76, SD = 1.56). CONCLUSION: The three-face scale is more appropriate for the correct matching of descriptors to different degrees of anxiety for children aged 6 to 12 years, whereas the five-face scale is more suited to children over 6 years.